<p>Current students, would you guys tell me more about this school? What do you like/dont like about Wisconsin-madison?</p>
<p>theres a sense of pride and family by going here. The whole campus is filled with fellow badgers and you feel a sense of pride for the school. No matter the cons (weather, etc...), I think the pros definitely outweigh them. The academics are good, the people are really friendly. If you're a party guy, you'll love it here. If you're not and worried about being forced into it, theres really no peer pressure here at all. </p>
<p>The only real con I can think of is since this school is so big, you'll meet a lot of new people here that are really cool. However, there's really no way you can hang out with all of them. You'll probably end up hanging out with the kids from your floor the most since you live with them</p>
<p>Pros: Really nice people. Awesome academics. Great parties. D1 sports. Big School. Two lakes.
Cons: Cold. Campus is very spread out. </p>
<p>Really about all I can think of. Do you have any questions about anything in general? I haven't talked to anyone who doesn't love it here.</p>
<p>My only concern is the 4- and 6- year graduation rate--seems sort of low. Does anyone know what that is all about? Is it hard to get the courses that you need for your schedule?</p>
<p>Not low- check another UW thread for link. Some transfer to other schools or drop out- data showed all entrants. You determine your timeline- take enough credits (12 per semester or 15 per semester = 5 or 4 years without any AP credits), figure out a major (a change junior year needing many prereqs could take longer), plan schedule to take courses meeting breadth reqs early on (if you haven't decided on a major at least take courses that fulfill reqs regardless of your major) to utilize your time. You won't get into every course you would like as a freshman (such as popular fun electives) but you certainly can get courses that will fulfill some requirement. There is a wide variety of courses within most fields from which to choose.</p>
<p>It may be low since noone wants to leave. Too much fun.</p>
<p>I'd say schedule a visit if you haven't already seen the campus. I've seen campuses across the nation but there's just something about UW-Madison. There have been a lot of new buildings since I was a freshman (currently a 4th year sr. now) but the ambiance is still here. There is a lot of diversity/culture on campus and in the city. I'm pretty confident that whatever you are looking for in terms of a school you'll find something appealing here.</p>
<p>I would definitely agree with everything said above and will like to add: UW is one of the few campuses that has two student newspapers. There are so many student orgs to choose from no matter your interest and if you can't find an org, you can start your own with 2 other students and $10. In terms of classes/majors--there's a lot of options and upon approaching graduation I'd have to say I'm leaving with a great education. With about 120 credits to graduate and roughly on average only 40 credits dedicated to your major it's a wealth of knowledge from the general education credits to classes of interest. I hear that our language program offers the Elvin language from The Lord of the Rings. If you can't decide what major to choose from you can actually make your own major. I've actually looked into that process and it is a lot of work but I know a few people who have done so and it works for them. Classes are generally larger when you are fulfilling gen ed reqs. such as math/chem etc. but filter down once you get into your major study. I've had the opportunity to do independent studies with professors as well. </p>
<p>I think a big con is that it's such a huge university that it's easy to get lost in the system if you're not proactive. For example, this time of year is when the spring timetable is available and if you're a freshman and didn't get an appointment last month, it's nearly impossible to drop in to see an adviser (even YOUR adviser) until December--AFTER the time you registered. It's especially a disadvantage when you are taking the large 300-400 lecture courses--if you want closer, smaller atmosphere where your professors know you by name this will be a challenge. That's not to say that you can't take advantage of office hours and seek out the resources you need--you just need to know where to look for them. </p>
<p>Hope this was somewhat helpful!</p>
<p>I think one unique thing about UW is that a fairly large number of kids are paying for all of most of their education. They work quite a bit and take lighter loads. Wisconsin is not a rich state and many UW students come from average to below average income families. A fairly high number are first in the family to attend college.</p>
<p>Here's the highlights/lowlights of UW Madison. (Know I think UW is a great school but not "all that" for everyone.) From alumni with kids who attend. If you don't like the huge on-going drinking/party scene, Freshman year will be tough for you cuz this "is" the social life there..consider a different college. With no access to bars, the house parties are really the only thing students do on the weekend and they get raunchy, and intense. And it is non-stop and hard to escape from Freshmen year...lot of kids testing their limits and it isn't pretty. Vodka the drink of choice along with beer and sometimes both mixed with OJ..LOL. Sorority/Faternity life has merit for an alternative for another network, but still lots of partying beyond reason and can be trying when you already trying to adjust. Badger games are a blast, but only around 25% get tickets in the lottery, so you can feel left out, or have to pay arm and leg for a ticket from some computer geek who bought them on the lottery just to sell them for the profit (they go for like $500 for a season) (this has got to change too..Univ of Michigan fixed the problem). Freshman classes can be really and unnecessarily tough cuz of big lectures and often only average quality teachers (they are better researchers...beware of classes where professors don't use a textbook but charge for online notes...notes can be random and not complete). Check out profs on [url=<a href="http://www.ratemyprofessors.com%5DRateMyProfessors.com%5B/url">http://www.ratemyprofessors.com]RateMyProfessors.com[/url</a>]. (Frankly, try to get some of the basic classes out of the way through extension classes (UW Learning Innovations) or AP/Connect Ed classes to avoid the "screener" classes like microeconomics (a bear), entry level science couses, and calculus. Consider retaking some of the advanced classes you breezed through in high school, cuz better to retake and get an A, versus flunking the second level course cuz you weren't really prepared for it, like calculus. Higher level courses though in some fields can be easier than the entry level freshmen mega lecture classes. Professors hit the range of awful to great and many TAs who barely speak English, but be overprepared for your first tests and you will possibly get a B. Then you'll figure out eventually how to get an A. On housing, really, really consider if you can handle living in a small room with some random person in the University dorms cuz the quality of the dorms/roommate/location can make or break your year. And with the range of students, the horror stories are all around. Face it...if you are a stylish type, could you really handle living with a farmer who never left their county?? Uber geeks who don't take a bath? Students with religious norms that don't allow them to be seen by boys in their rooms but live in a co-ed dorm? A roommate who pukes all over the room? I'd highly suggest signing up with someone/anyone you know to cut the risk of this disaster. Or be prepared to experience diversity if that is your goal...you'll get it. And don't let the assignment process fool you...most of the kids this year that got into the nicer dorms signed up with a roommate they knew. The university personnel don't explain this correctly. You really do have almost double chance of getting into a better dorm under the lottery system. Their system is based on the highest lottery selection of the two people and then they use your top choices and go down your list finding the first room open with both spots (not the first spot...get the difference)....so yes, you do have an advantage if you sign up with a roommate. Until they change the system to use the lower of the two roommates lottery number draws, selecting a roommate will give you a leg up. Want to avoid all this, the private off campus housing is less of a chance. and they are really making them nice..Note, at UW once you sign a housing contract you get what you get, and could even be thrown into temporary housing, and flexibility is not in the cards, and no roommate matching at all. In the private dorms they do roommate match, and truly suggest checking them out until things change at the university, with Lucky in Lucky 101 being the really nice one with three "Freshman Only" floors for 09, Towers (beautiful lobby and great food), Statesider, Regent, and the new GrandCentral (doesn't have a dedicated Freshman floors though). So really consider the trade offs from the dorm experience. It used to be fun to live in the dorms cuz house parties were the social life, but that all changed with the 21 drinking age. No more dorm parties, so everyone leaves the dorms to party elsewhere or shuts their door to party in small groups. Also, know that Lake Shore dorms are NOT considered the "in location" and unless you are the introvert type or outdoors type (cuz of the lake views), you'll find yourself constantly going down to the southeast dorms for social life cuz that is where the Freshman activity seems to be. Can be hard from a safety perspective at night. Might be time that the University follow the trend to have dedicated Freshman dorms to help students out with this problem. Get on a floor with lots of returning Sophmores (can happen in Liz Waters and some lakeshore dorms) and your year will be very different as a freshman cuz they already have their friends in place and don't need to socialize with Freshman. Crime has been an issue (students lately getting burglarized for their laptops and cellphones at gun point...creepy) and you can see the stuff on the Madison Police Incident report online. .. So hope this helps...Madison has a lots of merits...great Farmers Market around the capitol every weekend and just a beautiful setting, but realistic research will help you make your decision the right one..</p>
<p>Post #9 is a great post. Thank you!</p>
<p>Post #9 is a good post if you are one who falls into believing extreme generalizations.</p>
<p>I don't have the time, nor the energy, to tackle all of the over-the-top statements thrown around by buckyalum08. </p>
<p>Ridiculous.</p>
<p>Actually many of the comments in Post #9 have been made by students that I know. I find it refreshing when a student posts based on their current experiences. Post #9 is a lot more polite than is post #11.</p>
<p>Post #9 is not true for every student. Always take such posts with a huge grain of salt- they are only one view. Agree with the more polite #11 post. </p>
<p>Son was a HS CC runner, not into drinking or football. He had no trouble with leading his lifestyle. Honors Program gave him some great classes. Not everyone is into spectator sports and drinking. College is what YOU make of it. There have been posts on other threads which also give contradictory views of Lucky for freshmen (I am shocked by the students who drink so often- don't they have a life?) so private dorms are not any better. Choosing a hometown roommate has pros and cons. UW found that random roommates worked out just as well as using a matching questionnaire, since all dorms are nonsmoking (as is most of the campus, even outside near entrances) you don't have to worry about that. Also, you don't need to be best friends with your roommate, there are plenty of others on your dorm floor to hang out with if you end up with someone with different interests. I'm sure you can find the same compaints about large classes at even large elite private colleges. It is an imperfect world. The comments about being proactive are true (post # 7)- UW is not for anyone needing hand holding or unwilling to take charge of their academic, social, etc life. Wonderful for the wide range of experiences available and being independent. Notice the comments about needing to work hard- not an easy school, but you want it that way, to be challenged...</p>
<p>While no post could be true for everyone I think #9 was pretty darn accurate. And very up to date. I wish more kids would find other interests outside the party scene but it seems only a minority does. When I went there we had more choices with the many film societies, lectures by interesting non-academics, and more live music.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the posts:) they do help a lot and i think i will take consideration for a lot of things that have been said here:)
I am not quite sure if I should apply to UW now, since im not a party person at all and im afraid that because of that, i might not be able to fit in.</p>
<p>The post may be accurate, but is definitely taken to the extreme. i've seen some bad room mates here, but those bad room mate examples are way more extreme. The worst is you have nothing to talk about. If you're social, you'll always have friends on your floor i think. I think it has been hard to get involved with the campus though, because with the workload and the WIDE WIDE variety of groups, its so hard to pick one.
Don't worry about not being a party type. There are those who don't party. If you get a partying room mate though, that MIGHT get annoying. Sign up for late classes just incase.</p>
<p>mintjulepfifi, you can come with a better excuse than that, can't you? Honestly, I've yet to meet a person that cares weather or not I party, and most of the times, it seems like it's the people who don't party who tend to razz or look down upon those who do, not the other way around. Not that that occurs that often, either. I don't think so.</p>
<p>Plus, there's tons of things to do other than party. I've only been here like three months, I know, but I've yet to go to a party or drink, and it's not like that's hindered my social life. You'd be fine if you didn't drink. There's so many things to do, and yes, there are tons of people to do them with. :)</p>
<p>No need to party or conform in any way to any social lifestyles. There are plenty of people who DON'T party. One could just as well say that 75% of the US population doesn't graduate from college so I won't bother going. The campus is large enough to support many lifestyles. Also remember this isn't a repeat of HS with all of its peer pressure. If you have the academic ability and independence to handle UW you can easily find activities that match your interests without following the drinking crowd. Also, who cares about "fitting in"? You create your own social mileau and most likely will encounter others to share it with. Ask 10 or a 100 different alumni what their UW experience was like and you'll get an equal number of different responses.</p>
<p>m-i-l-i-e-u</p>
<p>[0uoqwerj;1l3dk-t- typing fast, no proofreading</p>